bigkevracer

I don't have blanks, I have the actual fog light surrounds, and I'm happy to remove them to get replicas made. Someone in Adelaide is most convenient, but whatever. Depending on time frames, I'm probably happy for you to have them for 2-3 weeks while molds etc are made, because I may be after slightly different ones anyway and I don't want to butcher the factory ones. Was Megazip.ru able to supply the surrounds?

I'm still working on the price, but Andrew did say he would do a group buy (and has provided good pricing for SAU group buys before). Craig, getting the exhaust up as close as possible was a priority so it didn't get hacked apart on the first speed hump! Very happy with that. He has happy to build and send around Australia no problems. Whats the issue/mechanics of split vs bellmouth dump? Aaron, it doesn't hang or scrape at all, excellent in that regard. You can see a (small) muffler at the back on the photos, but the new one will be bigger and deal with that issue. We may add a second one in if necessary.

Jidge, I'm north, usually around Prospect. Depends on how good you are with your tax, could get both?

He has all the jigs etc now, as well as my old stuff to work off, so should be good. Why not the tail section? Did you get Japanese goodness on the car?

Since I said I was donating my car to AM Performance in SA to do some development on M35 exhausts, there's been a little bit of interest, so I'm finally following up with some photos. I didn't take these, and some are a bit average, but you get the idea. The whole exhaust is 3" stainless, and has a great sound! It's a bit loud at the moment, but we're swapping the muffler out shortly to see if that quietens it down a bit. It has definitely quietened a fair bit since I first got it though. We retained the cat obviously, but dropped the standard unit in favour of a high flow. Andrew from AM Performance has kept all the mounting points etc similar to stock so that people can order just the section they need, i.e. if you have a dump from one place, and you go for a Blitz/Kakimoto/etc rear, you can get a nice mid section from Andrew. Now for the all important photos... Dump pipe: Full system: I specifically asked for titanium tips, and Andrew decided twin 3" would be best. They're also relocated from the stock position (or where mine were anyway, which drooped down and looked crap): Result? The car pulls MUCH harder from standstill. Its hugely impressive and it feels like there is less lag. I haven't had it on the dyno yet, but I don't need to... there is a massive difference. Picked up a couple of L/100km in economy, but with the way it performs and comes on boost now, economical driving hasn't been a priority lately. The sound is great, really nice, deep burble that I'm hoping isn't destroyed when the new muffler goes on. Andrew takes pride in the acoustics too, and he's done a great job. If you're in SA I'm happy to take you for a spin and show you what the end result is. I don't have pricing yet, but if there is any interest I'll organise a group buy so people can order whichever section they need. Just let me know!

$300 new doesn't sound that bad really. I priced up a few different sets of spotties, all were around the $100-200 mark. I was thinking of going HID, but they're around the $1k mark!

true. if you can get decent ones made up in carbon fibre I might even trade mine in for some custom ones that let me fit different sized lamps. surely going to be cheaper and more useful than US$400 for ONE new fog lamp!

I'm still prepared to lend you my shrouds to make Carbon or Fibreglass copies if you want? Don't know what the costs would be like.

The guys at Clarion told me that shouldnt be happening, and to take it back to Autobarn and get them to look at it. They also told me that Autobarn should be able to give me the unlock code, so I havent ordered the black box yet. Like you said Brad, software solution will be best, so I'll keep on that for now. No hurry really. Did you look into the wireless cameras? There is one which has Xtrail specific mounts pretty cheap, was thinking of taking a punt.

I'm impressed with my Clarion. For $500 it does iPod, DVD, CD, MP3, AV-in and the BT support seems pretty good, on my Android phone anyway. Like you said Leon, you can always use your tuner for movie files. I got one of those on the weekend from Brad, and he wired it all up for me. Pretty impressed so far! Couple of little bumps at first. Learnt to leave the volume on the tuner to midrange, because if you set it up too high the audio will just clip and sound average. Do you know if there's a way to alter the colour/contrast on the factory screen, or through the tuner? Mine is a bit too orange.

My torque split gauge reads zero 90% of the time. Lock the diffs by pushing the button to the upper right of the shifter. It should now show around 10 on the gauge, and you'll have a picture of your axles and a cog with S (?) in the middle lit up on your dash. That's all working from memory. Give it a go and see.

I thought Attessa was controlled by the ECU?

Just Cars are AAMI, which I think means no choice of repairer? I'm insured through a private mutual. $812/year, $500 excess, agreed value of $18,000, complete choice of repairer and any mods I want to do have to be listed as nonstandard accessories and must be road legal. I'm 26 with the car garaged in Adelaide.

I think they're too small though? Went out and measured mine, they're 110mm across, and those Blazers are 65mm. Looks like they'd be easy to fit though! What about these from the same site? http://www.theretrofitsource.com/product_info.php?products_id=125 Seem to be the perfect size? I'm going to get a price on these, since I know I can get them locally: http://narva.com.au/products/detail/compac-100-hid-driving-lamp-kitbr-12-volt-35w-100mm-wide/noheaders/1/?KeepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=500&width=720&modal=true&parent=driving-fog-lamps-popup-layout

Last time I got rear ended I found the exhaust just took the impact at its weakest point. And in my case since I'd just done the exhaust, it was the original headers, which cracked apart (and couldn't be replaced on an E28 BMW M535 ). If the exhaust has bent somewhere in the middle, that's probably where the impact transferred, and I'd think you'd be fine. My girlfriend works in insurance and tells me nothing but bad things about AAMI. If you get choice of repairer with Just Cars, put the claim in with them so you don't get screwed by AAMI.

Looks good. Might get a price on these: http://narva.com.au/products/browse/compaccompac-hid Dad gets trade, and they'll be easier to return if they're no good. Seems like a better option than hunting down an original fog light, and I'd say it won't be _too_ expensive.

What did you find Dale? Spot or fog lights?

Ah ok. Is there a specific one you'd suggest, or you've seen? Otherwise I'll just go through the Narva and Hella catalogues. Pair of HID driving lights would be heaps better for me than a pair of fog lights.

Hey Leon, how does that mobile phone holder work out? I lost the screws to my informeter and need to mount it somewhere...

Thanks Iain. Was thinking of trying to find some spot lights the same size. I don't really need fog lights in Adelaide, I'd get more use out of spotties. Will keep an eye on IM too. Have Streeter getting me some stuff at the moment.

Is it translated? Before I got the TV sorted I always used the leaf screen, and every time I got back in the car it had switched back to TV. But I've noticed since I did the translation and TV it stays on TV.

I thought about getting something like that but I didn't like the idea of having to take my eyes that far off the road to look at the GPS, so I went without GPS. I have a nice Navman that will sit on the windscreen just within view, probably safer.

I don't have that issue Iain. Mine stays on TV no matter if it's popped up or not. Do you have the video block on yours? I'm just wondering if it switches to GPS because TV is blocked?

That'd be great Dale, thanks! Complete bumper assembly seems a bit excessive, but I am insured, and I'm that anal that I'd probably do that if I had to.

Had mine done today, almost worth the cash just to get fuel consumption in L/100! Brad gave me a bit of a tour, plenty of new options I didn't know about or couldn't find when it was in Japanese. Especially happy with the service interval reminders, can finally piss off those lube stickers I hate having on my windscreen so much!